Argggh: Mad Max vs. the Terminator?

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Argggh: Mad Max vs. the Terminator?

Postby banned » Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:19 am

[Am I the only one in favor of drafting Kermit the Frog?....guess so.]<br><br><br>Gerard Wright, Los Angeles<br>December 9, 2005<br><br>ICON versus the Governator. It's a cast straight from Hollywood and a political clash possible only in California.<br><br>Icon is Mel Gibson, whose production company of the same name grossed $A450 million in the US alone from The Passion of the Christ, his controversial film based on biblical accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.<br><br>The Governator is the increasingly embattled Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose approval rating as Governor of California has dropped almost 25 points from the start of this year. His political vulnerability was further emphasised by the failure of four ballot measures he supported at a special statewide election last month, only two years after he swept into office.<br><br>Gibson, who moved to Australia from New York with his family at the age of 12, is being proposed by the California Republican Assembly, the conservative arm of the party. Earlier this week it announced its intentions online with the creation of a website titled melgibsonforgovernor.com.<br><br>Republicans of every stripe have been dismayed by Schwarzenegger's tack back to the centre after a brief flirtation with the conservative wing of the party, which included a rousing, nationally televised embrace of the party's values at its 2004 national convention.<br><br>The ballot measures he either proposed or supported at the November election gave him increased power over state spending, changed tenure laws for teachers, and required unions to individually poll members before spending funds on political campaigns. All were defeated.<br><br>Last week, Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of Susan Kennedy — a former cabinet secretary for Democratic governor Gray Davis and a leading abortion rights activist — as his new chief of staff. Apart from that, the Governor is also at the centre of an intense public relations campaign to commute the pending death sentence of Stanley Williams, former leader of the notorious Crips gang, scheduled to be executed next week for four murders committed in 1979.<br><br>According to Californian Republican Assembly president Mike Spence, there are several reasons for putting Gibson's name forward, including the suspicion that the decline in poll numbers may deter Schwarzenegger from running in the 2006 election.<br><br>"He has abandoned everything that he ran on," Mr Spence said. "Mel Gibson is someone who can catch the attention of people and articulate a vision better than the Governor." And besides: "His (Gibson's) last movie made more money than the Governor's ( Terminator 3)."<br><br>Another factor forcing the group's hand is the flirtation of stars Warren Beatty and film director and producer Rob Reiner, both outspoken Democrats, with the possibility of entering the field for the governor race.<br><br>Reiner said last night he would not run against Schwarzenegger in next year's election.<br><br>Gibson is currently filming in Mexico. A spokeswoman for Icon Productions said the actor knew nothing of the approach by the Republican group.<br><br>Apart from widely circulated conservative Catholic views, Gibson, 49, has kept a relatively low political profile by Hollywood standards. Mr Spence says the actor donated money and recorded an advertisement opposing a ballot initiative last year to establish a state-funded stem cell research institution, and was a supporter of one of this year's ballot initiatives, which required parental notification of an abortion for a child under 16.<br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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